well.. as they say.. all good things come to an end.. and this was no exception. i'm writing this from seat 28F.. in a different plane than i was scheduled to leave on. a far cry from my luxurious departure from dfw. it's not all bad though.. i've got a window seat and a glass of decent wine - this time i had to pay for it : ( [edit] my second glass SUCKED! so we decided to finish off an awesome week of riding with the infamous noon ride. temperatures were perfect.. bikes freshly washed.. we had a noon ride to win! it was awesome.. my legs were a bit tired from all the riding we had been doing.. not to mention sore from yesterdays off road extravaganza - my back is still hurting! i won't bore you with the pedal by pedal.. but i will boast a bit. after bridging up solo to dylan casey (lance armstrong's former teammate and former uspro champion) on the alpine climb, i was able to get the better of him in the kom sprint : ) he was probably just tooling around but nevertheless.. it was such a great week.. probably the best week of riding i've ever had. i'm inspired again.. that being said.. i'm definitely ready to get home and see the girls. i miss them soooooooo much. i can't wait to hold them in my arms.. todays pictures.. twittering on our way out to meet the ride. dylan casey (left with specialized jersey) and hippstar. noon ride action.. there must have been 80 people.. @ 12 on tuesday! dirty girl.. the final sprint.. to hippstar's ; ) labor! contemplating my next move.. DISCLAIMER: i'm not a puff.. but.. laureen, you're awesome! hippstar is a very lucky guy. you're such a great person.. cool as fugg.. absolutely beautiful - inside and out.. and a great cook : ) thank you sooo much for looking after me. bimpy and penny, keep up the good work.. watch out for cars.. and continue living "the dream". and hippy.. i've always looked up to you.. both as a rider, and a person. you've taught me so much over the past decade.. more than you'll ever know. you really are an inspiration! you're truly, "THE bar". "did ya get that??" [tissue] -ouT surFy